GITA Events

Co-founder and former executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Patrisse Cullors has been on the frontlines of abolitionist organizing for 20 years. Today #BlackLivesMatter is the banner under which this generation’s civil rights movement marches, and it is a call to activism nationwide. Now a global foundation supporting Black-led movements in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, the Black Lives Matter Global Network was a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

The author of the New York Times bestseller When They Call You a Terrorist and 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World: An Abolitionist’s Handbook, Patrisse is an established community leader, social activist and performance artist who raises awareness through a unique blend of activism and politically expressive theater. A queer black woman, she delivers perspective on the adversities inflicted by social injustice, discrimination and the lack of accountability in law enforcement and discusses her commitment to being the voice for those who can’t be heard, educating and inspiring audiences to organize and stand together to transform society into a world where the lives and contributions of all individuals are recognized equally.

Biography:

Cara Page is a Black Feminist Queer cultural/memory worker, curator, and organizer. She comes from a long ancestral legacy of organizers and cultural workers from the Southeast to the Northeast. For the past 20+ years, she has fought for LGBTQGNC and People of Color liberation, and organized in the Southeast with movement builders such as SONG, Project South, and the Atlanta Transformative Justice Collaborative and has built with many organizers, healers and cultural workers across the country.

In the event’s 31st year, GITA and its community partners (i.e., Africana Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Social Work, TRiO, CAMP, Immigrant Services, and student org Building Allies for Diversity) held a dialogue about the BIPOC “Safer Space” Resolution and about what it means to be antiracist with Cara Page.

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Political Analyst for MSNBC, Joy-Ann Reid is a New York-Times best-selling author with her book The Man Who sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story and Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide. Throughout her career, of journalism, she has interviewed then-Senator Barack Obama, has covered the details of the Trayvon Martin case, and has discussed the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement. As host of AM Joy, she empowers her viewers by providing information on political and social issues.

Devoting many years to challenging racial injustice, Dr. Cleaver is a long-standing activist known for her role in the Revolutionary Black Panther Party and has worked to free imprisoned Freedom Fighters for over 30 years! She is also a professor of law at Emory University and continues to stay engaged through teaching, writing, and film projects that incorporate human rights concerns, both within the United States and across the African diaspora.

A democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, Symone Sanders rose to prominence as the press secretary for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. She champions inclusivity, encouraging you to embrace diverse voices and perspectives in the pursuit of building and extending strong communities that will help change the world!

Check out this article where Symone discusses Bridges, Bernie, and Building community.

Suzi Q. Smith is an artist, activist, educator and mother from Denver, Colorado. She has served as the organization’s Executive Director since August 2014. Prior to serving as the Executive Director, she served for two years as the Vice President of the Executive Council. She has been an active member of Poetry Slam, Inc.

Is a feminist activist, writer, speaker, and digital strategist  best known for her work as a national campus anti-violence advocate. She’s a founder of the anti-rape organization Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture and is a founding co-organizer of Know Your IX’s ED ACT NOW campaign. Her writing and work has appeared been featured in outlets including MSNBC, The Establishment, ESSENCE magazine, and The New York Times.

Janet Mock is a writer, TV host and advocate whose memoir, Redefining Realness, broke ground as the first biography written from the perspective of a trans girl. Born in Hawaii, Janet’s story of growing up trans caught the nation’s attention in a 2011 Marie Claire article. Since then she’s become one of the most influential trans women and millennial leaders in media. TIME called her one of the most influential people on the Internet.

Melissa Harris-Perry is a Presidential Endowed Professor in Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South and Executive Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute. She is the former host of MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry“.

Harris-Perry is author of the well received book, “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America” (Yale 2011) which argues that persistent harmful stereotypes-invisible to many but painfully familiar to black women-profoundly shape black women’s politics, contribute to policies that treat them unfairly, and make it difficult for black women to assert their rights in the political arena.

Professor Harris-Perry is also a columnist for “The Nation” magazine, where she writes a monthly column also titled “Sister Citizen.” She is also a contributing editor to “Essence” magazine where she pens a monthly column on parenting and politics. She also provides expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial issues, religious questions and gender concerns for a variety of other media outlets.

Loretta June Ross is a feminist, advocate, scholar, professor, writer and academic. Ross advocates for reproductive justice, specifically women of color reproductive justice. Ross has

written on reproductive justice activism and complexities of the history of African American women. She began her activism in the early 1970s after being tear-gassed at a demonstration when she was an undergraduate student at Howard University. Early on Ross also experienced the devastating act of sterilization abuse when an intrauterine device (Dalkon Shield) was marketed despite being found to be defective. She was one of the first women of color to win the class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer of Dalkon Shield. In 1978, Ross worked at the first rape crisis center in the country. Ross is well known for co-coining the term reproductive justice in 1994. She was part of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective formed in 1997 by 16 women of color organizations. Ross was national co-director of the April 25, 2004, March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history at that time with 1.15 million participants. She has co-written books on reproductive justice such as Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice (2004); Reproductive Justice: An Introduction (2017); and Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique (2017).

Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni Jr. is a poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator. Giovanni is one of the world’s most well-known and acclaimed African American poets. Her poetic works include poetry anthologies, poetry recordings and nonfiction essays, with topics on race, social injustices and children’s literature. Giovanni became acclaimed and celebrated in the 1960s, as one of the most vocal authors of the Black Arts Movement. Giovanni’s voice was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the 1960s movement era. Her writings showcased strong, militant African American perspective; this branded her the title of “Poet of the Black Revolution.” Giovanni’s work has received many awards and holds 27 honorary degrees from colleges and universities. Giovanni has been awarded the keys to over a dozen cities, such as New York, Miami, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Giovanni has been honored with the NAACP Image Awards seven times and she received the Langston Hughes Medal. Her poetry album, ‘The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection’ was nominated for a Grammy Award. Giovanni was named one of Oprah Winfrey’s twenty-five “Living Legends.” In a uniquely different honor, a South America bat species called ‘Micronycteris Giovanniae’ was named after her in 2007.

Pamela Suzette Grier is an actress and writer, who’s artistic work branded her as the first female action star and first female action hero in cinema. Grier Alma-Mater is Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her acting career began in the 1970’s. She starred in is a variety of roles, such as, action and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Grier

specifically starred in a genre of films called ‘Blaxploitation,’ which is an ethnic subgenre of exploitation films that emerged in the early 1970s. The term ‘blaxploitation’ is a combination of the words “black” and “exploitation,” and was coined by Junius Griffin former president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP branch in 1972. Grier’s career award achievements include nominations for an Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Satellite Award and a Saturn Award. Grier wrote her memoir Foxy: My Life in Three Acts (2010). In 2022, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) announced that the fourth season of their podcast, The Plot Thickens- would focus on Grier’s life and career.

Sapphire is a writer, poet, and literary activist. Sapphire’s most groundbreaking and acclaimed literary work is her debut novel called PUSH. The novel won the Book-of-the-Month Club’s Stephen Crane award for First Fiction, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s First Novelist Award, the Mind of the Year Award, the Village Voice recognition and Time Out New York as one of the top ten books of 1996. In 2009, the novel was developed into the Academy Award winning film called Precious. Precious was a Sundance Film Festival winner and received other awards, including two Academy Awards. The book was later renamed to Precious to have a greater connection to the deeply impactful film. Sapphire has published works in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Black Scholar, Spin and Bomb. In 2007, Arizona State University presented PUSHing Boundaries, PUSHing Art: A Symposium on the Works of Sapphire. Sapphire’s poetry has appeared in; Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, Grabbed: Poets and Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment and Healing and New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent. Sapphire’s work has been translated into over a dozen languages and has been adapted for stage plays in the United States and Europe.

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is a civil rights advocate, author, writer, professor, lawyer and critically acclaimed scholar of Critical Race Theory. Crenshaw is celebrated for the

introduction and development of intersectional theory, which is the study of the overlapping forms of oppression. Crenshaw’s vital scholarly work has signified a change of paradigms. Her theories have been credited and cited as influential in the drafting of the equality clause in the Constitution of South Africa. Crenshaw has written and published works on civil rights, black feminist legal theory, race, racism and law. She is a professor of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles and Columbia University.

Donna Brazile is an expert political strategist, author, expert campaign manager, political analyst, interim professor, media commentator and a syndicated columnist. Brazile worked on every presidential campaign from 1976 to 2000. Brazile was the first African American woman to direct a major presidential campaign, as a campaign manager for presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000. Brazile served tenures as acting Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), from 2011 to 2017. Brazile has worked on several presidential campaigns for democratic candidates, including Jesse Jackson in 1984. Brazile served as an advisor for Bill Clinton’s campaign for the presidency in 1992 and re-election in 1996. Brazile has been a political and media contributor for, CNN, ABC Fox News. She was appointed as a member of the board of directors of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, after Hurricane Katrina by Kathleen Blanco from 2005 to 2009.

Joan Morgan is a Jamaican American author and journalist. Morgan is acclaimed in as a Hip-Hop genre music journalist. Morgan coined the term “hip hop feminism. Morgan began her journalism career as a freelance in 1988. She wrote articles for SPIN, Working Mother, More, Ms., Interview, and GAINT magazine. Morgan began her journalism career at The Village Voice, one of her early articles was called The Rape Culture. In 1991, she received an Excellence Merit Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus. Morgan was an original staff writer for Vibe Media Group’s Vibe magazine. Morgan coined the phrase “Black Girl Magic” and “Hip Hop Feminist” in 1999, through writing the groundbreaking book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost. Her phrase ‘Black Girl Magic” has become a popular term of endearment and inspiration for Black girls and women around the world.

Linda Thomas also known as Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is an American diplomat and has dedicated her life to public service. Thomas-Greene is the United States ambassador to the United Nations within President Joe Biden’s Administration. Thomas-Greenfield was a political science professor at Bucknell University. In 1982, she joined the Foreign Service. Thomas-Greenfield served as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration from 2004-2006. She served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs from 2006 to 2008, Ambassador to Liberia from 2008 to 2012 and Director General of the Foreign Service from 2012 to 2013. Additionally, Thomas-Greenfield held foreign positions in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica. She is the author of three books: U.S. Refugee Admissions History and Policy (2001) Zimbabwe’s Coup: Net Gain or No Gain? (2019) and The Transformation of Diplomacy: How to Save the State Department (2020).

Patricia Hill Collins is a feminist, scholar, theorists and sociologist academic specializing in race, gender and class. Hill Collins written work discusses the interlocking of social oppression and how the portrayal of communities of color is impacted through the distribution of the mass media, digital and social platforms. Hill Collins scholarship also reflects on how communities of color are often at a disadvantage because of multiple forms of oppression, such as race, class, gender, identity, sexual orientation, religion and other identity identifications. Hill Collins most praised and acclaimed book, Black Feminist Thought (1990) explores the knowledge produced by Black women intellectuals in and out of academia. Hill Collins is the 100th president of the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the first African American woman to hold the title and office.

bell hooks was an author, writer, professor and social activist. She wrote 40 books on love, race, art history, sexuality, mass media and feminisms. Hooks published scholarly articles, provided commentary for documentary films and was an acclaimed public speaker and lecturer. She began her teaching and academic career in 1976. She taught at many post-secondary institutions, such as the University of Southern California, the University of California, Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, Yale University, Oberlin College and City College of New York. In 1981, Hooks published the widely acclaimed ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ Black Women and Feminism. Publishers Weekly branded the book as “One of the twenty most influential women’s book in the last 20 years.”

Paule Marshall was born Valenza Pauline Burke, and the daughter of immigrant parents from Barbados. Marshall was an acclaimed writer, poet and novelist. She used her childhood memories, especially her mother’s native tongue, as her writing inspiration. Marshall wrote Our World, an acclaimed nationally distributed magazine gear towards an African American audience. In 1959, Marshall wrote her first and most celebrated novel Brown Girl, Brownstones, which told the story of Selina Boyce, a girl growing up in a small immigrant community. In 1961, she published Soul Clap Hands and Sing, a collection of four novels, which she won the National Institute of Arts Award for. In 1965, she was chosen by Langston Hughes to accompany him on a State Department sponsored world tour. In 1969, she wrote novels, The Chosen Place, the Timeless People. In 1984, her novel Praisesong for the Widow won the Columbus Foundation American Book Award. In 2021, Praisesong for the Widow was reissued-redistributed by McSweeney’s as part of their “Of the Diaspora” series highlighting important works in Black literature.

Davis is a political activist, academic, scholar, philosopher, author and professor. Davis was a dedicated member of the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party. She is passionate advocate for the abolishment of prisons and the prison-industrial complex. Due to the hate and

resistance of her time, Davis progressive thought process was met with resistance. In an effort to discount Davis, she was intentionally accused of ‘Murder and Kidnapping’ in 1970, immediately branded a criminal, J. Edgar Hoover placed Davis on the ‘F.B.I Ten Most Wanted’ list. Davis was acquitted and found not guilty on all charges. A woman of adversity, Davis continued her life of service into the 21st century. In 1975, Davis was a lecturer at the Claremont Colleges and later in 1978, at San Francisco Art Institute and San Francisco State University. In 1991, she became professor in the History of Consciousness and the Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz and is now a distinguished professor emerita. Davis has written twenty seven books, some of which are Angela Davis: An Autobiography, Women, Race and Class, Are Prisons Obsolete? Women, Culture and Politics, Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture and Abolition. Feminism. Now. Davis’s publishing works have had a great impact on the feminist and political arena.

Asha Bandele is a journalist, scholar, activist and writer. Bandele’s penmanship through the years, has voiced advocacy for social justice, civil rights, abolition and transformative justice. In 1999, Bandele’s became a best-selling and award-winning author for her personal memoir, The Prisoner’s Wife, which chronicled her marriage to a man incarcerated for murder. The acclaimed was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Memoir and Autobiography. Bandele served as the feature story editor and writer for Essence magazine, she wrote and edited stories on high profile public figures such as Winnie Mandela, President Barack Obama, Denzel Washington, Mary J. Blige and Koffi Annan. Bandele’s journalist works has been appeared in many publications, such as The New York Times, The Nation and Ebony. In 2016, she co-produced a video on race and the drug war called From Prohibition to Gold Rush’ She serves as a Senior Director at the Drug Policy Alliance, which is a philanthropic organization or drug decriminalization. She is also a New York Times best-selling author of eight books, such as The Prisoner’s Wife: A Memoir, Something Like Beautiful: One Single Mother’s Story, Absence in the Palm of my Hands & Other Poems and The Subtle Art of Breathing

Vinie Burrows was an activist, actor, playwright, producer and a stage actress on Broadway. Burrow was an active member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council on the complex issues of the status of women and Southern Africa. In 1980, she became an associate of the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). In 2014, Burrows received the award from the International Communications Association and AUDELCO for her Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and the Community. In 2018, Burrows received a Lifetime Achievement Award and was named the honoree at the Theater of the New York City’s 15th annual Love N’ Courage gala.

Anita St. Hill Chisholm is a pioneer in female politics. In 1968, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972, Chisholm made history by becoming the first African American and woman to run for a major party’s nomination for President of the United States. Chisholm presidential campaign slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed.” She entered the political world, in 1953, after joining Wesley “Mac” Holder’s effort to elect Lewis Flagg Jr. to the bench as the first black judge in Brooklyn. In 1968, Chisholm ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for the New York’s 12th Congressional District. In 1971, Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus. In the same year, Chisholm became the founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus. Chisholm served as Secretary of the Democratic Caucus, from 1977 to 1981 during the 95th Congress and 96th Congress. During her tenure in Congress, Chisholm worked to improve opportunities for the inner-city demographic. Chisholm supported spending increases for education, health care and other social services. Chisholm was very passionate on issues concerning discrimination against women, especially women from impoverished communities. Chisholm was an advocate for the land rights of Native Americans. Chisholm worked in national security and foreign policy for the revocation Internal Security Act of 1950. She opposed the American involvement in the Vietnam War and the expansion of weapons development and an opponent of U.S. military draft. Chisholm wrote a letter, to Jimmy Carter during his administration, for better treatment of Haitian refugees. Chisholm was an advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, which she believed would have profound social and psychological effects more than any economic or legal impact.

Gwendolyn Brooks was a poet, author and teacher. Brooks is celebrated for using poetry to bring awareness and understanding about black history and culture in America. Brook’s voice through her work documented the struggles and victories, big or small, of people in her

community. Brooks studied the racial complex dynamic in the inner-city of Chicago and showcased what it was like to be Black in America; she described and called her finding the ‘Black’ experience. Brooks was an active participant, in the Black Arts movement. In 1950, Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize, for a poetry book called Annie Allen.

June Jordan in one of the most celebrated, published and critically acclaimed Jamaican American playwright, journalist, teacher, writer, poet, essayist of her generation. Jordan was also known for her active commitment to political activism and human rights. Jordan was active in civil right, feminist, nonviolence, anti-war, and ‘LGBTQ’ activist. Through her voice- writing skills, she penned text on complex issues on immigration, representation, language, race and gender. In 2019, Jordan was inducted on the National ‘LGBTQ’ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument.

bell hooks was an author, writer, professor and social activist. She wrote 40 books on love, race, art history, sexuality, mass media and feminisms. hooks published scholarly articles, provided commentary for documentary films and was an acclaimed public speaker and lecturer. She began her teaching and academic career in 1976. She taught at many post-secondary institutions, such as the University of Southern California, the University of California, Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, Yale University, Oberlin College and City College of New York. In 1981, hooks published the widely acclaimed ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ Black Women and Feminism. Publishers Weekly branded the book as “One of the twenty most influential women’s book in the last 20 years.”

Davis is a political activist, academic, scholar, philosopher, author and professor. Davis was a dedicated member of the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party. She is passionate advocate for the abolishment of prisons and the prison-industrial complex. Due to the hate and resistance of her time, Davis progressive thought process was met with resistance. In an effort to discount Davis, she was intentionally accused of ‘Murder and Kidnapping’ in 1970, immediately branded a criminal, J. Edgar Hoover placed Davis on the ‘F.B.I Ten Most Wanted’ list. Davis was acquitted and found not guilty on all charges. A woman of adversity, Davis continued her life of service into the 21st century. In 1975, Davis was a lecturer at the Claremont Colleges and later in 1978, at San Francisco Art

Institute and San Francisco State University. In 1991, she became professor in the History of Consciousness and the Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz and is now a distinguished professor emerita. Davis has written twenty seven books, some of which are Angela Davis: An Autobiography, Women, Race and Class, Are Prisons Obsolete? Women, Culture and Politics, Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture and Abolition. Feminism. Now. Davis’s publishing works have had a great impact on the feminist and political arena.

Judy Richardson is a civil rights activist, documentary film maker, researcher, producer. In 1970s, Richardson began her profound documentary film making and producing career. Her first groundbreaking work was as a content advisor for the series “Eyes on the Prize.” Eye on the Prize was a 14-hour documentary series on the history of the American Civil Rights Movement, which was aired on PBS in 1987 and 1990. In 1988, the series was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 1994, Richardson co-produced a documentary called Blackside’s. Equally, in the same year, Richardson co-produced the Emmy and Peabody Award winning documentary called ‘Malcolm X: Make It Plain’ for PBS’s The American Experience series. Richardson served as a senior producer for Northern Light Productions in Boston, where she produced historical documentaries for broadcast and museums, focusing on African American historical events. Richardson’s other works include; a documentary called Scarred Justice: Orangeburg Massacre 1968 for PBS, two History Channel documentaries on slavery and slave resistance. Richardson was the co-editor of the NAACP Image Award winning book for Outstanding Literary Work for; Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts By Women in SNCC, which was published by University Illinois Press. Richardson is a honorary member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).